The Brief
BAM Interbuild needed a pre-occupation indoor air quality assessment across Möbius Tower benchmarked against WELL and BREEAM criteria, covering TVOCs, formaldehyde, and radon, with results suitable for submission as part of the certification process.
What We Did
Airscan conducted measurements across multiple levels of the building while it was in its final construction stage, unoccupied, and running under designed ventilation flow rates – the controlled conditions that give pre-occupation testing its validity. TVOC concentrations were measured across the entrance hall, hallway and sanitary areas, and open-plan spaces. Formaldehyde was assessed using active membrane sampling across the same areas. On the ground floor, an advanced device equipped with a radon sensor measured the presence of this radioactive gas – a parameter that standard assessments often omit but that carries specific relevance for lower-level spaces.
How It Works
Pre-occupation testing captures the indoor environment at its most honest: the building is finished, the ventilation is running, and there are no occupants or operational activities masking what the materials themselves are contributing to the air. BREEAM’s threshold for formaldehyde is 100 µg/m³ and for TVOCs is 300 µg/m³ – limits set at the point where off-gassing from building materials, adhesives, and finishes would represent a meaningful health concern for future occupants. Measuring before occupation is also when intervention is still practical: if concentrations are elevated, there is still time to act before the building is handed over.
Outcomes
The measurement campaign found no problems across any of the tested parameters. TVOC averages ranged from 1.74 µg/m³ in the hallway and sanitary areas up to 78 µg/m³ in the open-plan spaces – well within the 300 µg/m³ BREEAM limit. Formaldehyde averages ranged from 6.10 µg/m³ in the entrance hall to 26 µg/m³ in the open-plan areas, comfortably below the 100 µg/m³ threshold across all locations. All recorded values were confirmed as compliant and submitted as part of the BREEAM certification documentation. Based on the results, Airscan recommended proceeding with the certification application, and the reports were used directly in the precertification preparation process. Airscan also recommended that future projects targeting BREEAM, LEED, or WELL certification consider incorporating permanent air quality monitoring – both as a route to additional certification credits and as an ongoing commitment to tenant health and wellbeing.
